We are One of the Same
by arttsan
Summary: Alchemy has always be the most important thing to Artie, aside from her adoptive father Roy Mustang. But while on her journey to meet the famed Edward Elric, she comes upon someone new. Will she chase her late parent's dream or pursue something of her own interest? Re-rated T for language
1. Chapter 1

Hey everybody, it's Arttsan! I'm pretty excited to start off with one of my favorite stories I've written so far! So, as a short story synopsis, this will be a Fullmetal Alchemist fanfic. Also, as a forewarning, there will be an OC main character, EdwardxWhinry, RoyxRiza, ect. Lastly, this is my first story, so please bear with me :)

~Third Person~

A girl stands, cornered in an alley by three trashy looking boys. Her bright golden eyes widen as a knife was brought out by one of the ruffians. Clutching her briefcase to her chest, she studied the faces of her persecutors and planned her escape.

"Hey, hey, we're only looking for a little fun!" The boy with the knife says, edging closer to the girl.

"G-get away from me, you thugs!" she manages to say calmly while slowly backing up further into the alley.

"Ey boss, we oughtta hurry up, the military's comin' from down the street." the delinquent on watch says somewhat frantically. Growing impatient, the ring leader puts one hand on the wall by her face and the other holding the knife to her throat.

"How 'bout you come back with us then, girlie?" his awful breath left a look of disgust on her face. She exhales, calming herself, and then begins to execute her plan when a boy about her age speaks up at the end of the alleyway, all the other lackeys lay on the ground defeated.

"Leave her alone." The boy, a tall blonde in plain clothes, utters the cheesiest line ever to exist, at least in her opinion. She already seemed disgusted by this kid, but decided to keep up the airhead-damsel-in-distress-act.

_'He definitely did a number on the other guys, but I doubt he could take on this last one without a weapon...'_ She thought to herself.

"How 'bout you butt out, you prick." the creep chided. The boy then proceeded to put his hand in his pocket and the other on the ground, as the girl's eyes widen once more in recognition.

_'That stance... it definitely has to be him...'_ she stares in awe.

"This is your chance, let her go.

"Hey, boss, ain't he the 'lil State Alchemist?" one of the bandits says from the ground. The boss looks nervously at his subordinates, while the girl tilts her head in interest. The Leader swallows his fears and turns to face the boy when a blinding red light flashes, creating rock solid cones in it's wake. As the creeps finally fall unconscious, as each received yet another blow to the face from the transmuted stone, the light subsides and the boy adjusts his shirt. When she knows the scene is safe, she hops over to the boy excitedly.

"Are you alright?" he holds her hand to guide her over the last thug, where she accidentally trips and falls into his arms. Blushing, the boy helps her up.

"OhmygoshareyoutherealEdwardElricyoungeststatealchemistIcamehereassoonasIknewofyourwhereaboutsI'vebeenlookingalloverAmestrisforyouwellIwasn'tstalkingyouI'mintrestedinyouralchemyseeI'mastatealchemisttoolook!" She pulls out a silver pocket watch with the Military's emblem on it.

"What's that?" He looks puzzled.

"What do you mean? All State Alchemists have these." She furrows her brow. He looks around nervously. _'Crap!' _He thinks to himself.

"Ohhh, I get it, since your so famous here in Xenotime for your research and all, you don't carry it around." She nods. Letting out a sigh, he walks with her up the street.

After a short silence, she looks over at him and says, "Well, my name is Artemis Strickland, the Mineral Alchemist. But, you may call me Artie." Looks of enthusiasm cross their faces.

"My n- S-so you're interested in my Alchemy?" He asks. A huge grin crosses her face as he breaks into a cold sweat.

"I am! I'm looking towards mastering all of the elemental sciences." She exclaims, pulling out a leather bound notebook that has seen better days.

"All of the elements? Were you bored when you made this your goal?" He asks, flipping through the notebook. He was a bit taken aback when he read the first page, _"Journal #42"_.

"No, I'm just finishing my parent's research, as they met their untimely fate to the hands of a terrorist. It's the least I can do- to preserve their honor." She replies, plastering a well-practiced smile on her face. He looks at her sympathetically, knowing what it feels like to live without parents.

"I see. I'm actually continuing my father's research as well." He let slip out, breaking his rule of only trusting and confiding in his little brother.

"You may come and see it if you'd like." he added. _'Crap...'_ He thought to himself. He couldn't understand why, but he wanted to show her everything. Maybe it was because of her strange empathetic aura, or maybe her open personality. Being as famous as he is, he could have any woman in town if he'd wanted. Why is she the only one who piques his interest?

"I'd love to! Unless, of course, I'd be a bother..." She looks down nervously, realizing she'd most likely be alone with two boys her age in some place unfamiliar. It wasn't like her to be so vulnerable, but she'd expose him soon enough.

"Haha, of course not. We'd sure enjoy some company for once."

~We are One of the Same~

So, how's the beginning sound? To be honest, this is all I have written so far... But I am still super hyped for this story! Can you tell who this mystery boy is yet? I won't spoil it if you haven't seen Fullmetal Alchemist. Also, I want to know what everyone thinks of Artie so far.


	2. Chapter 2

~Third Person~

Later that day...

"Wow, so this is your little brother, Alphonse Elric, right?" Artie asked, peering behind Russel to get a glimpse of his younger sibling. He comes out from behind his brother and offers a small smile.

"Hi." He says nervously. The older brother ignores his meek 'Hello' and walks the three down a corridor. One wall holds many impressive paintings of natural areas that Artie recognized to be parts of the city itself. The other wall was a row of seamless glass doors that led to the garden outside. She gazed at the beautifully bloomed Dahlia flowers, and stopped in her tracks. The brothers then stopped ahead of her and turned to see what was wrong.

"Those flowers... Were my mother's favorite." She sighed. Despite it being a tough subject to think about now, she couldn't help but smile to herself.

Seeing that nothing was unsound, the elder brother held everyone's gaze to make sure they were alright to move forward. With two slight nods, the trio head upstairs to the lab.

"This is it." The elder brother opens his arms up to the spacious laboratory. Many different plants, mostly philodendron, lined the walls and tables and some even hung from the ceiling. Artie walked over to some notes and began to read over them. Her smile left her face when she realized what they were up to.

"What is this?" She asks in a flat tone. The older brother began to panic. She turned to face the brothers, both arms extended to reveal the pages she was reading.

"Why are you trying to make a Philosophers stone?!" Artie cries. She knew the dangers of attempting this sort of thing. She read the files on her foster-father's desk years ago when the experiment first took place.

"This is our father's research. He ran away before he completed it. That's all we're here to do." The older brother says calmly. Artie became fed up from his lies.

"Edward Elric's father never researched Red Water. Edward Elric has golden eyes. Edward Elric wears all black." She began slowly walking towards him, as his brother backs up into a corner and behind a plant.

"Edward Elric has a metal arm." Artie's voice escalated as she grabbed his bare right wrist.

"Who are you two?!" She yells, her golden eyes burning into his gray-blue ones. Just then, a flash of blue light is seen from the window.

"Brother, d-didn't that come from the library?" the younger brother stutters. The elder brother smirks and wrenches his wrist free of her grip.

"This way." He motions for the other two to follow him, and as his brother followed, she kept her ground.

"Don't think this is over yet." She says sternly, and then began to follow well behind them.

"Brother, keep quiet, or else they'll hear us!" The younger brother whispers. He tries his best to move around quietly in his big suit of armor.

"Shut up, Al! All I want to do is meet these impostors and set them straight! And hopefully get some more information about the philosopher's stone..." The older brother dusts off his jacket. The two peer over some of the shelves.

"All of these books are about the philosopher's stone... And they must be cultivating them here, no doubt about it." The older brother says, flipping through a few of the books.

"In case the guards weren't a clue, this place is off-limits." The fake brothers, followed by a ticked off Artie, appear in the doorway. Artie looks over at the two intruders and gasps. The two older brothers begin to speak to each other as Artie's mind spins around like crazy. Suddenly, the intruding older brother starts to pick a fight with the fake older brother.

"An automail arm, huh? I guess even the real Edward Elric has gotten his fair share of criticism." The fake older brother remarks as he blocks one of Ed's punches. _'There's no doubt about it,'_ Artie thinks to herself. _'He's the __real__ Edward Elric!' _Looking over at her, the fake younger brother notices her reaction, and backs away from the fight.

"I'm sorry..." He whimpers to her. She looks over at the little boy and smiles before running into the fight. As the cloud of dust disappears, Artie is in between the feuding teens, and keeps them apart.

She turns to the real Edward and says,"You are the real Elric brothers, right?". With a confused look on his face, Ed nods. Then, looking over at the fake Ed, his face turns red in anger.

"Don't tell me you've been using our names to pick up chicks!" Artie laughs as she releases the two from her grip. Everyone's heart skips a beat when guards come rushing down the corridor.

"Who's there?!" One of the shouts. Two menacing guards appear in the doorway. Grabbing the hands of the real Elric brothers, Artie runs out of the transmuted door they made.

"Run!" She says urgently. Confused but intrigued, the brothers allow the girl to sweep them away from the fight.

"Man, my face feels like crap." Ed says, rubbing his cheek. Artie looks down at her lap. Ed puts a hand on her shoulder to comfort her when her head whips up revealing the brightest eyes he has ever seen.

"Edward Elric! I have been looking all over Amestris for you!" She yells in his face. After a few seconds, Ed starts blushing and Al snickering as it finally sank in.

"Listen, you're probably a great girl and all, but I'm not looking for any-"

"I DIDN'T MEAN LIKE THAT!" She bows in apology. Artie finally lifts up her head, exposing her river of tears streaming down her face.

Artie takes a deep breath and then says, "I have tried so hard to track you two down but I always end up missing you two and Colonel Mustang keeps sending you off before I can come back to meet you guys and I just really wanted to learn about Earthly Alchemy from you because of well, other reasons, but-"

"Wait a second, did you just say Colonel Mustang?!" Ed inquires. Al also looks completely lost. Just then, a man with wavy black hair walks up to the trio with a shovel. Artie looks at him skeptically, as the brothers look at him in recognition.

"Hey, you're that guy with the lemons, aren't you?" Ed finally asks.

The man nods, and says, "If you need a place to stay, you can come with me."

And now that mostly everything has been revealed, I can splurge about the rest of the story. My story will be sort of the "life" of Russel and Artie, since they're gonna be together forever and have like a billion babies. Just kidding. But not really. There will be, later on, lots of mushy crap, so be prepared~


	3. Chapter 3

~Third Person~

"Thanks again for letting us stay here." Artie thanks Belsio. He simply gives a nod and leaves the room, knowing there is much to be explained. Artie looks at the Elric brothers nervously before sitting down.

"So, I guess you're probably wondering a lot of stuff by now, huh?" She asks meekly.

Ed slams his hands on the table and says, "Just who are you?! What business do you have with the Colonel and me?!" Ed almost immediately regrets saying this, since he had no idea why he'd give a rat's ass about the colonel's safety, but he just decided to go with it.

Artie takes a deep breath before speaking. "Roy Mustang, who you refer to as your Colonel, is sort of my... adoptive Father."

The boys let it sink in for a few moments before screaming,"WHAT?!"

"W-what do you mean?! He's just a perverted jerk who likes to send us off to random corners of Amestris! He can't look after a..." Ed's voice trails off after she takes out a silver pocket watch and sets it on the table.

Before Ed can shout any sort of nonsense, Artie says, "Just let me explain from the beginning."

"My name is Artemis Strickland, the only child of the late State Alchemists Silvia and Terrence Strickland, who studied Herbal Alchemy in hopes to be of medical help to the Ishval war. About seven years ago, a psychotic mass-murderer from Ishval came rampaging through my hometown in the East, and killed my parents while we were out on the street. I was pretty terrified. Then, when he was about to get to me, he was chased off by none other than Mustang himself, although he wasn't a Colonel at the time. He had a few wounds on his back, but he hugged me and told me that everything was going to be okay~" She take a short breath, and sips her tea. Finding it quite hard to picture Roy being the compassionate type, Ed and Al urged her to continue.

"After that, he took me home, so I could get some of my things since he would be taking me with him after that. He nearly collapsed from exhaustion, so I treated him using the medical alchemy my parents taught me. After that, Roy was impressed, and told me how famous my parents were, for their work. A few weeks later, Roy decided to just take full custody over me, and taught me a few flame alchemy tips, but I honestly can't get them down right." She laughs halfheartedly. Ed wonders just how much she means to Roy if he taught her some of his sacred flame alchemy.

"Later on, we discovered some of my parent's old journals, and found out they were planning to travel the world to master all of the elemental types of alchemy, since all of their medicines were readily developed for use on the front lines, and because they wanted something fun to do for once. They died short of their dream, which is why I'm looking for you, Fullmetal, so I can learn more about Earthly alchemy, and further my parents's dream. Please. Mustang has told me... well, just about everything about you guys. He's made me really look up to you, even though I am a little older than you, but still, will you please teach me?" Artie begs, bowing her head in her plea. Ed looks at her, understanding her rationale, but is yet to be fully convinced.

"Why did you become a State Alchemist?" Artie's head snapped up. She couldn't think of any other reason to join other than for the sake of her parent's dream and to be of more help to Roy during the day.

"I understand your remorse for your parents, but isn't it time to live your own life?" And with that, Ed heads over to the guest bedroom to sleep. Artie slumps in her seat in disappointment. Al puts a reassuring hand on her shoulder, but it ends up being ignored.

"We should go to sleep, too." Al says. Artie nods and follows Al to the guest room.

* The next morning *

Artie is awakened by the sounds of bickering. She hears Elisa teasing Ed, followed by a long silence. Artie peers through the doorway to see the back of Ed going through the front door on his way to town. She keeps herself out of the moment.

"Hey big guy, do you mind heading over to the drugstore for me?" Belsio turns to ask Al.

"Um, sure, I'll go." Al says, looking over at Elisa. She just looks up at him and grins. Al smiles (inwardly) back, before heading out. Artie takes this chance to grab her boots and make a B line for the door.

"It's about time you woke up." Belsio didn't even have to move to hear Artie tip-toeing around the hallway.

"G-goodmorning. I thought that maybe I should head out around town too, maybe get a few groceries." Artie stuttered. Belsio let out a simple chuckle and set her off on her way with a list of groceries.

"Bread... bread... bread... Argh, why is it so hard to find bread around here?!" Artie cries out to the world. Suddenly, a woman operating a bread stand hits a little boy over the head for trying to steal one of her loaves. Artie walks up to the stand and purchases some bread. As she receives the two loaves, Artie tears one in half and hands it to the little boy, unaware of a certain someone watching from afar.

"T-thank you, miss." The boy says, then runs to his mother who is seated on a bench. The mother looks at Artie and gives her a curt nod, of which she returns. Artie turns to further explore the market when she finally sees, without a bit of surprise, the fake Edward Elric staring at her from behind a tree. She smiles and walks over to him.

"It's not polite to stare at someone, you know." She says teasingly. Her short, curly black hair reflects the sunlight directly into the Fake Ed's eyes, making them tear up.

"It seems you are a truly kindhearted person, despite leaving her host with worry at such a late hour." He says, pushing his bangs out of his eyes. This was a simple yet effective tactic he used on all the ladies in town to get them to fawn over him. In Artie's eyes, he looked like he would kidnap a school girl at any second.

"And you are such a deviant, taking a girl home and then kicking her and her friends out without even telling her your name." Fake Ed endures her sharp words, all the while considering whether or not to tell.

"Russel. It's... Russel." He finally whispers, avoiding her eye contact.

"Who is Russel?" Artie teases. He sighs and confirms, "My name, my real name, is Russel Tringham." Artie's eyes widen in recognition. She'd definitely heard that name before. She recalled the case, making her all the more frightened.

"Listen, you need to stop your little experiment." She says, unable to hold his gaze. Furious, he replies, "Why not? Are you afraid of us becoming successful and wiping little medics like you off the map?" Russel say insensitively.

"Don't pretend you don't know." She says with a dead serious I'm-tired-of-your-bullshit look in her eyes.

"Don't know what?" He says, crossing his arms. She sighs and grabs his collar to bring his face to hers.

"You know what this red water is doing to this land. It's hurting these people, do you really think a few stones are worth a whole town?" She says menacingly. A child nearby asks his mother if they're a couple, while the mother recognizes "Edward Elric" and wait for what happens next. Wanting to feed the townspeople with this chance, she brings his face even closer and gives him a peck on the lips. Artie then smirks and walks off, her words resounding in his head.

_'Do you really think a few stones are worth a whole town?'_

"Mommy, are they a couple?"

"J-just don't look, Simon." Russel's face flushes a bright pink as he walks off the opposing direction. As he walks towards a cul-de-sac, he notices his little brother talking with the real Alphonse on a huge pipe. His brother meets his gaze, and says his goodbyes to Alphonse.

"It's Fletcher. My name is Fletcher." he says, smiling.

"Well, I'll see you later, Fletcher."

Just to make this clear, Artie is a year older than Edward, making the age order Artie, Ed, Al and Russel, then Fletcher, and then Elisa. And if that is any indication yes, I will be making Elisa a much bigger character than she is already. Along with the Tringham brothers and such. And maybe Havoc. Who knows.


	4. Chapter 4

~Third Person~

Artie slams her hands on the wall in front of her. She starts hyperventilating, her face flushed bright pink.

_'...she brings his face even closer and gives him a peck on the lips...'_

"What the hell are you doing?!" Artie yells at herself. She slumps down on the ground, drawing circles in the dirt. Yes, she just did that, kissed and impostor; and yes, she did quite enjoy his embarrassed look when she skittered away.

"What're you doing down there?" Ed asks, him and Al peering over the distraught girl. He offers her a hand up, which she cautiously accepts.

_'I understand your remorse for your parents, but isn't it time to live your own life?'_

"Listen, have you seen that impostor around anywhere? I swear, when I see his face, I'm gonna bash it in so hard his head'll be peeking out of his ass!" Edward yells to the world. Artie just ignores the brothers and heads home. Neither of them make an effort to go after her, despite her sluggish speed. They watch her black hair bob up and down until it was out of sight.

"What the heck is her problem?" Ed asks Al. Al, knowing his brother, began to chuckle at how thickheaded he can be to women.

"Maybe she's a little upset that last night not only did you refuse to help her out after all her months of tracking us down, but you also crushed all of her hopes and dreams left behind by her late parents?" Al says sarcastically. To Al's surprise, Ed only lets out a small apologetic sigh.

"I guess we should chase after her then, huh?" Ed begins heading down the street.

"Brother, there's something I wanted to talk about." Fletcher speaks up. Russel only completely ignores him for the sake of the experiment. Fletcher hangs his head in anxiety.

Outside, another flash of light goes off.

"I can believe I let you talk me into this." Artie says, following after the boys in a hole Ed opened up with alchemy.

"Listen, they won't suspect us if we break in the very next night. It's genius!" Ed whispers, digging the hole deeper and deeper.

"I'm sorry about Ed, Artie, this is the biggest lead for the stone we've had in awhile. We need to jump on this opportunity." Al apologizes from the back of the line. Artie's brows furrow in concern. _'These boys have no idea what they're looking for...'_

"Alright, we should be underneath by now." Ed says, preparing a hole overhead.

"Are you sure?" Al says, looking behind them into the night.

"Well, we have to open up somewhere."

A stream of red water flows through an empty concrete hall. The stench is so overbearing that Ed and Artie's eyes begin to water. Despite the darkness of the cavern, the red liquid seemed to have a glow to it.

"This must be the red water that makes up the base of the philosopher's stone." Ed says, careful not to tread to close to the water's edge.

"Red water?" Al asks. Artie runs her handkerchief in the water. When she pulls it out, the dipped end is completely disintegrated. Steam rises from where the end of the cloth once was.

"It's incredibly acidic. This is the real deal, it seems." She says, pocketing the torn garment.

"Listen, I read about some of this stuff in Central. It's a rock with roughly the same material as the philosopher's stone, which you get by refining red water." Ed says. Artie turns to meet the boy's eyes.

"Listen, this is not a thing you want to mess with." Artie says sincerely.

"You seem to know a lot about this red water." Ed implies. Al tries to make his brother stop, but it ends up being ignored.

"What exactly do you know about the stone? What are you hiding? If don't tell me now I will beat it out of you." Ed threatens Artie, who doesn't falter.

"You'll understand soon enough..." she replies apathetically.

"What do you mean-" Ed says, edging towards the unrelenting girl when Fletcher cuts him off.

"Over there! Come here, quickly!" Fletcher calls out. Ed begins wavering, and falls into Al's arms.

"Brother!" Al cries. Artie grabs Al and pulls the three into the room with Fletcher.

"Brother, are you alright?" Al asks, the younger brothers peering over his once unconscious body. Artie merely gives a "Hmph!" and continues watching the windows.

"Where am I...? And what are you doing here?!" Ed yells at Fletcher.

"I-I'm sorry!" Fletcher apologizes. Artie walks over and places a hand on his shoulder.

"What're you crying about?" Ed asks a little less insensitively.

"Fletcher." Al says. He knows by know that Fletcher can't quite speak his mind, and has already come to the correct conclusion.

"If you know something, please tell us. You really don't like what's going on right now, don't you?" Al says. Fletcher dries his eyes and begins to speak.

"That red water... is highly toxic to us humans. But, it's still vital to the philosopher's stone creation process."

"Does that mean that's why everyone in town is coughing so badly?" Al asks. Ed watches Artie's reaction, which is none too surprised. _'So you do know something, huh?'_

"I-I'm sorry... I'm really sorry..." Fletcher begins tearing up again. Ed rises from Al's lap.

"Damn, this is such a nuisance. I'll just tear this place apart." Ed says while cracking his knuckles.

"I can't let you do that." Russel appears in the doorway. He gives the brothers a slight smirk, but immediately looks away when he meets Artie's eyes.

"W-we've finally raised a red stone up this far. Our father sacrificed himself for this." Ed and Al gasp as Russel holds up a red stone- a Philosopher's stone.

"Heh, what's so great about that half-baked rock?" Ticked off, Russel pockets the stone and demonstrates its power but turning a lamp into a sword.

"That sword is just fake to, isn't it?" Ed says, fashioning his blade from his automail. "I'm going to mess you up with your little rock!" Edward charges at Russel, their blades crossing. As each boy pushes against the other, Russel's blade begins to crack.

"It's no use against my blade. Mine is the genuine article." Ed says. Russel makes a dirty move as his knee lunges into Ed's stomach, launching him across the room.

"Ed!" Artie yells. Reaching his limits, Russel transmutes a hose out of the red water cellar's door, aiming for Ed.

"What?!" Ed says, standing his ground. Aware he has the upper hand, a huge grin breaks out onto Russel's face. Fletcher watches in horror from behind Al's back, trembling.

"This is the red water. One hit and you're done for." Russel says. Artie debates in her head. _'I need to help him, maybe he'll see why he should teach me... but then he'll know of the crime I committed...'_ Artie thinks to herself.

"Fine by me!" Ed says, transmuting his blade into an umbrella to cover the hit. As Russel cranks up the water pressure, however, Ed finds it harder and harder to keep his ground. In the same instant, Fletcher pushes Ed out of the way before the water can taint him, while Artie quickly transmutes a branch from a nearby plant to knock the hose out of Russel's hands.

"Fletcher!" Al says, rushing to his tattered side. Russel stares in disbelief of what his younger brother had just done. Only one person noticed Artie use her alchemy, since it was done lightning fast, and he planned to question her about it later on.

"Hang in there, Fletcher!" Al says encouragingly while carrying Fletcher in his arms.

"Brother, dad was researching Red Water to bring happiness to people, right?!" His words sliced through Russel like a hot knife.

"And yet here we are, making all of the townspeople suffer, aren't we? Brother, you should have known about this. It doesn't matter who gets the credit, doesn't it?!" Fletcher yells, pouring his heart out in front of the three teens.

"Dad... Dad would not be happy about this at all!" Russel looks down, trying to accept this fate. Suddenly, a shrill whistle blows through the air.

Yeah, so when Artie first tested the red water, it was the water pressure and the force of the stream that burn through the fabric, which is why Fletcher isn't a puddle of goo up to this point lol. Also, views seemed to spike considerably last night, which I'm very thankful for. And just another thing about the story, we won't be following around Ed for too long, then we'll get to the mushy stuff, but he will be accompanied by Artie at some point, along with maybe a huge fight :)

Oh, and Happy International Sushi day, folks (6/18)!


	5. Chapter 5

~Third Person~

"Edward! Is everything alright?" A guard's fist shakes the large navy blue doors.

"It's fine!" Russel calls back. "I told them not to bother us..." he mutters under his breath.

"I guess they don't trust you." Edward says. "You'd feel a lot better after revealing who you really are, wouldn't you?" Al looks over to Fletcher to find him drawing a transmutation circle on the doors.

"Fletcher..." Russel trails off as the transmutation is executed. Large talon-like tree limbs span over the door as the flash of lime green light subsides.

"Run! Hurry!" Fletcher yells to the trio. "If they catch you, we'll be in trouble too! In time, I'll clear everything up.

"Al! Artie! Let's go." Ed says, slightly reluctant to leave the other brothers. Ed breaks through one of the windows and jumps to the ground. Al follows after, carefully carrying Artie and avoiding the broken glass. Once out, the three run on foot back to the home of Belsio. Russel watches from the window to see them leave. He then turns to face his younger brother, whose clothes were still soiled with the red water.

"I'm sorry, brother..."

Russel sighs and heads over to his little brother. He heals the red water resin from his skin with the philosopher's stone.

"You promised not to use alchemy, right? Dad didn't like it you know." Russel says as the last remnants of the red water has dissipated. The door bursts open as many guards rush in to check the scene. Mugwar walks in, staring in disbelief of the condition the lab is in.

"T-this is terrible!" His eyes bounce frantically from one thing to the next.

"Mugwar!" Russel calls. Mugwar finally looks over at the brothers, who were seated on the floor.

"You two are all right! The stone... is it broken?" He asks. Russel pulls out the stone without a scratch on it, much to Mugwar's relief. "Not to worry, it's perfectly intact."

"You've done so well to make it so large!" (A/N actual translation) Mugwar admires the rock in his grubby hands. He was tall, but also very thick and somewhat pudgy. "However, we don't have much more time! Please start putting that other method into practice." Mugwar looked Russel directly in the eye.

"W-we don't need that method to-"

"Hm? Are you saying you can't follow my orders?" Mugwar inquires. "N-no..." Russel looks away.

"There was another man who told me the same thing. He ended up running away, such a foolish coward." Mugwar pulls out a pitcher-like device filled with red water and places the stone inside of it. It instantly begins to glow an ominous scarlet red.

"With this, even without being an Alchemist, I can do this!" Suddenly, a red light emanates from the body of the pitcher and shoots into the floor, warping the floorboards to wrap around the Tringham sons.

"Mugwar!" Russel says bitterly, feeling utterly betrayed.

"Magnificent!" He says, stroking the side of the pitcher. "The real Elric brothers are said to have blonde hair and golden eyes, sons of Nash Tringham!"

Ed, Al, and Artie tiptoed through the front door, unaware of a certain someone waiting for them.

"Things have been bustling over at the mansion, haven't they?" Belsio caught the three red-handed.

"Oh really?" Ed says nervously, rubbing his head.

"You went there again? There's no helping you." Belsio says, burrowing his head in his hands. A long string of rough coughs can be heard in the spare room.

"Huh? Is Elisa still here?" Ed asks. "Mhm. She wanted to stay here, and she won't listen to me."

"Her cough is terrible, so I put her down."

"Huh? Red Water?!" Belsio looks up from his mug, remembering the term.

"Mugwar has revived the experiment." Artie says, taking a sip of her drink.

"They're condensing it, trying to turn it into a stone. Then again, compared to the philosopher's stone, the red water piece is just a pale imitation." Ed explains casually. Al turns to his older brother.

"What do you think he meant by 'his father's dream'?" Al asks. Artie looks out the window, wondering what Russel and Fletcher were doing. _'I hope they're alright...'_

"Probably just some goofy excuse." Ed shrugs. Artie stares at him menacingly.

"Could that be those two..." Belsio ponders. "Are Nash's sons...?"

"Nash Tringham? You mean the discoverer of Red Water?" Ed asks, it all making sense now.

"He was from this town, and went to Central to research Red Water. But then, one day, he came back to this town."

A man in a large hat and trench coat walked down a train station on a rainy day. 'Nash? Well, if it isn't Nash Tringham himself. You've returned, huh? How are you?' Belsio gave him a warm welcome. The man smiled.

'This town is plummeting, Nash. I think we should stop relying on gold minning as our way of living.' Nash hung his head at their cafe table. 'What's going on with your research with the red water? Is it coming along?' 'I gave it up. I'm never researching that again.' Nash said simply. 'I'm not going back to Central, either.' Belsio was taken aback. 'What? What about your family?' He sat silently. 'I'm a failure, as both a husband and a father.' 'Nash...' Belsio trailed, unable to come up with the words to encourage his friend.

"He abandoned everything he had. He wouldn't tell me anything about what happened in Central. But the big landowner in this town, Mugwar, came calling. He approached Nash about his research on red water."

'No matter how many times you come to me, my answer will stay the same!' Nash yelled. 'You're saying you're going to abandon this town?!' Mugwar yelled back, furious. 'Right now, the only thing that can produce gold is your red water!' He begged. 'As long as we have gold, this town will come back to life! Nash, you are the only one who can save this town, Please!'

"In the end, he secluded himself in Mugwar's mine, and began to research. The town once again flourished with gold. However, at the same time, a sickness of unknown origin began to spread. Without any known cure, many babies died soon after birth."

"And Elisa was born around then?" Ed asks. Belsio smirks at his perceptiveness.

"Yes. Shortly after, an Alchemist doctor named Marcoh wandered into town." Artie's attention shifted to the name- Marcoh. She knew he was in the Ishval Civil war from Roy, and that he had connections to the Philosopher's stone. Artie planned to keep that one name away from Ed and Al.

"It glowed?!" Ed asks, Artie snapping back into reality. Belsio nodded, raising Ed's hopes for another lead to the stone higher and higher.

"That light... could it have been..." Al began. "In any case, the treatment helped Elisa to survive." Ed notices Artie's scornful look. He shot a signal to her asking if she knew him. She just adverted his gaze, ignoring the gesture.

"I hounded Nash," Belsio continues.

'Come on Nash, if this keeps up, this will become a town of death!' Nash stood, back facing Belsio. 'What the hell have you done?!' Belsio yelled. 'I was in the wrong. Again... once again...I'm going to end it all.'

"After that, no one ever saw of him ever again. Over time, they couldn't produce any more gold, and the town once again declined."

"If those two are Nash's sons, they must have come after their father." Belsio places his empty mug on the coffee table. Artie begins to speak up.

"I think I understand why." The three men stare at her. "I-I know what it feels like to want to protect your father's pride, I've experienced it two times over." Artie stares into her lap, gripping the hem of her dress tightly. "If I were them, I wouldn't be able to sit around while my father's work went to waste." She lifted her head to show a soft, sympathetic expression.

"But it's still no excuse to make these good people suffer in their own greed."

"All you had to do was shut up and execute that other method... You're really no better than that trash you call a father." Mugwar cringed from outside of the other brother's cell, where Russel and Fletcher were tied up.

"Brother... what is he talking about?" Fletcher asked sheepishly.

"It's actually quite simple. Have a newly pregnant woman drink the red water, where it will soon pass through the placenta and condense..." Fletcher's eyes widen as Russel becomes more and more uneasy.

"You don't mean-"

"Stop!" Russel cuts off his little brother mid-sentence.

"At the right time, you get it and transmute it into a stone." Mugwar pressed on. "It's a simple, reliable method."

"Tch, you're quite the coward, it seems to run in the family." With that, Mugwar turns around an begins to take his leave.

"Wait! Tell me one thing, did Dad use that method?" Russel asks. Mugwar turned around to stare the boy in face.

"At the last second, he chickened out. If he'd done it, it would've saved his life." Feeling utterly betrayed, Russel kept yelling at Mugwar while he left, a trait he shares with the real Edward Elric.

Well, that ends all the anime recap. I tried shortening it and rephrasing some of it to better sum it up and not make it too much of a snore for those who have already seen the anime ;) I also hope I made Mugwar a huge asshole because honestly he's one of the characters I hated the most out of the original season. Who is yours? Be sure to tell me in a review and have a good day :)


	6. Chapter 6

PFFT and you thought plotty-plot stuff was over.

Also, I'm just cranking out chapters for the heck of it. This is probably my 3rd one tonight (or this morning, or whatever)

~Third Person~

"I apologize dearly for those impostors." Mugwar says. He invited the trio over the next day after the Tringham brother's were exploited. Artie was disgusted by his creepy smile on the inside, but on the outside she was Little Miss Sunshine, since Ed offered to see what she could do with her alchemy if she played along.

"I, too was completely taken in by them." Mugwar continues. "I feel just terrible about adding to our impertinence, but seeing as you two are among the finest alchemists of our age, there is a matter of which I would like to discuss with you." He happily rubs his hands together.

"You want us to research the Red Water?" Ed asks, unimpressed. Deep inside, the three were outraged by the lengths of which he would go for the stone. Before they arrived at the Mugwar Mansion, Artie spieled what she knew about the Red Water to Ed and Al.

'I heard that the real reason Nash refused to continue with the research was that Mugwar forced him to execute an inhumane plan involving pregnant women, which led to Mugwar murdering Nash to keep him quiet. I read it in one of Nash's diaries I uncovered, and I wanted to give it to Russel.' Artie admitted, shocking the boys.

Gathering his strength, Ed asked, 'So, you're thinking he's tried to make Russel do the same thing?' Artie nodded.

'And knowing them both, Russel most likely refused, which means Mugwar is preparing to put down both of the other brothers, which is why we need to go save them now!' she said with finality. Ed looked over at Al with his teasing eyes.

'Oh, so you just want us to bust in there to save your little boyfriend and his brother's butt? That might require a bit of convincing...' Ed said, tapping his forefinger to his chin. Filled with anger and denial, Artie punched him square in the jaw.

'I'll promise not to do that again if you promise to help, okay?' She smiled sweetly, yet terrifyingly.

'Y-yes ma'am.' Al couldn't help but laugh at his gullible older brother.

"Oh! You know about it! That'll save me from the explaining." Mugwar says. "The truth is, I happened to overhear that you were interested in the philosopher's stone, yes?" Mugwar pulls out a red stone and rolls it between hie thick, greasy fingers. Which were more like sausages. But pale, and clammy.

"Hm?" Ed muttered, keeping up the cool-act.

"What do you think? It was made by condensing red water! You might call it a trial product to the philosopher's stone." He held out the stone to Ed.

"What am I supposed to do with it now?" Ed says. Mugwar leans in uncomfortably close.

"I want to save Xenotime! If we can save the gold vein, all of our problems would cease!" Ed makes a look of agreement.

"So, where are the impostors?" Ed asks nonchalant.

"They're being held in an underground cell." Mugwar replies. Suddenly, Ed clasps his hands together and touches the red stone, deconstructing it's condensed state to mere vapor, where it then falls to the ground.

"What are you doing?!" Mugwar cries. Artie lets a slight smirk slip onto her face.

"Edward doesn't work with unfinished goods." Artie giggles. Mugwar stares in disbelief.

"We'd prefer to deal with the impostors first." Al chided.

"Yeah, I'm not quite the type to forgive liars." Ed added, his hands on his hips. Mugwar's face lights up.

"Oh, so you're accepting my request?" Ed crosses his arms and gives a slight nod.

"With us working on this, it'll be complete in no time. Nevermind that, I haven't executed anyone in a long time. Wanna come watch?" Ed asks Mugwar, who hastily declines.

"Brother..." Fletcher calls to his distraught brother, who has buried himself with guilt.

"Hey!" Al waves. Fletcher's expression immediately lights up.

"Alphonse!"

"I heard Nash Tringham was your old man, and Artie told us about what happened to him." Artie hides behind Ed nervously. She peers at Russel from behind, shocked by how stressed he looks.

"What were you trying to do by continuing his research?" Ed inquires. Russel searches his mind for a reasonable answer.

"That... is our father's water. It was my duty to continue his research." Ed starts chuckling.

"You're such a naive bastard." Ed becomes serious. "Do you know what kind of hell you put this town through?" Fletcher stares at his older brother, rendered helpless.

"Your pop knew that, which is why he tried to stop it. You can't gain happiness by relying on that red water, or gold, or a philosopher's stone for that matter!" Ed steps forward and releases the brother's from their handcuffs.

"Move forward! Don't act so shamefully! Not that you've taken on my name. Al, Artie, Let's go." Ed and Al run off. Artie is reluctant to leave. She reveals an old, tattered diary.

"H-here, if you don't believe Ed, read what your father had to say. Although right now isn't the time for reading." She hands Russel his father's diary, placed a kiss on Fletcher's forehead, then ran off to catch up with Ed and Al.

Mugwar stands looking at the red water residue on his hands, then says, "Who cares? As long as this experiment is successful, those guys will be-"

"Those guys? Who are you talking about?" Mugwar turns to see the trio in the doorway. "There's something that's been bothering me. Whereever did that red water researcher Nash Tringham go?" Mugwar takes a huge gulp.

"Nash? Oh, he wasn't doing too good of a job, so I fired him." Ed rests his chin on his fingers.

"Hm? You don't seem like someone so good-natured as to let someone who knew everything get away from you." Mugwar tilts his head upwards.

"What are you trying to say?"

"I'm saying I don't help murderers, Mugwar!" Edward yells.

"You brat! In that case, none of you are getting out of here alive!" Mugwar holds up the menacing pitcher full of red water.

"You alchemists are expendable!" He drops more condensed red water stones into the pitcher.

"There was more than one?!" Al cries. Mugwar grins.

"It may not be as complete as the others..." a red light flashes as a gun appears at the end of the pitcher. Ed pushes the three out of the bullet's path. Ed flips over and lands smoothly on the ground.

"Are you done yet?!" Ed yells. To their surprise, Mugwar exposes a handful of red water rocks, and pours them into the pitcher. The pitcher transmutes into a multi-chamber automatic firearm, which it's bullet's chase the trio around the room.

"It's no use!" Mugwar yells as he fills up the killer kitchen jug once more. It grows once again, as the three hide behind columns in order to dodge the bullets.

"Tch! Equivalent exchange my ass!" Ed mutters under his breath. After a few more rounds, the pitcher is empty.

"I'm still not done yet-" Mugwar is interrupted when two vines grapple him by the arms and pull him upward. Looking for the source, the group finds the Tringham brother's at the doorway, transmuting a potted tree.

"Russel!" Artie cries, a bit too happily. Russel gives her a wink, which makes her heart skip a beat.

"Al! Now!" Ed and Al push the wrecked column towards the man hanging from the ceiling. It came crashing down, crushing the man. When the coast was clear, Russel began to stand up and smirk.

"Ed! Looks like you needed my help after all."

"What?!" Ed looks deranged to Russel.

"Hm. We've given up on our chasing our dad." Russel smiles to himself, holding up a certain diary. Artie clenches her fists. "We're going to find our own way-" Artie's fist collides dramatically with Russel's jaw.

"YOU IDIOT! I told you now wasn't a good time to read it! I mean, yeah it's great you finally found your resolve but WE ALMOST DIED." She yelled. The group laughs while Russel rubs his jaw and a blushing tsundere Artie helps him up. Al looks over at the column and discovers something critical.

"Brother! Look!"

Okay, I will admit, this chapter had a crap-ton more of me having to follow the actual plot than before, for which I apologize. But when Ed leaves, and this whole shindig is over with, some actual romance action is happening, I PROMISE.


	7. Chapter 7

~Third Person~

"That Bastard! There was a trap door!" Ed clenches his teeth. The teens peer down the hole that lies underneath the column. A set of stairs spiral down into darkness. The teens run into the dark cavern. When they reach the floor, they can make out in the dim light a mine of sorts. Their footsteps echo in the corridor, each hitting the muddy ground with much aggression. Ed, Artie, and the other brothers put on gas masks.

"Russel, how much farther?" Ed pants.

"We're almost there! There's a spring where the red water comes out." Russel glances sidelong at the rest of the group. Artie begins to falter, and then falls to the ground. The group skids to a stop.

"I'm fine! Just go on without me!" She began to cough up blood. Reluctantly, the group presses on without her. Suddenly, Russel stops. A large wall of cement prevents them from going any further.

"That miserable Mugwar! He blocked our way." Russel is left with a gritty feeling inside. The pure hatred for that man burning inside of him.

"I'm gonna drag him out of there!" Ed clasps his hands together and expels the concrete, only to find Mugwar with a cannon on the other side, desperately trying to protect the spring.

"What?!" Ed yells. The four move out of the way just in time to dodge a powerful blast. _'That fake is a lot stronger than I thought.'_ Ed thinks to himself.

"I'll never surrender the spring!" Mugwar cries. "As long as I have this water, I can keep replicating this experiment! I'm not afraid of State Alchemists!" Ed walks in front of the hold in the concrete.

"Now you've gone and said it, disrespecting State Alchemists!" Ed says, closing up the concrete in time for the second blast to resound in the spring. As the concrete shatters, Ed walks up to the miserable Mugwar, who lays helpless on the floor.

"Do you understand now? I'm on an entirely different level than you!" Ed yells over the man. Abruptly, the whole cavern began to shake.

"What's that?" Mugwar mutters. His eyes widen when he sees the spring covered in fallen rock from the blast.

"Ed! That's enough! Let's get out of here!" Russel yells over the rumbling of the ground. "Brother!" Al yells. Mugwar, however, begins climbing up the covered stream.

"I will never give up this stream!" He yells. All of a sudden, red water begins to jet out of the crevices in the rocks. When he looks up, a huge boulder comes crashing down on him, crushing him to his death. The teens run away, stopping in the tunnel to hear the sounds of the red water rushing out after them. Al kneels down to carry Artie on his back.

"It's the water! The red water is overflowing!" Russel reveals. Ed rushes over to transmute another concrete wall to broaden their time for escape. "That should do it. Are the other places still safe?" Ed asks.

"The bedrock must be unstable from that blast... We must hurry if we want to exit safely!"

The group looks up at the hill, having exited, to see streams of red water running down the sides. Hurriedly, Ed transmutes a wall around the mansion to prevent any water from flooding the town. The red water immediately rushes around, surrounding the teens in a lake on an island with the mansion.

"Now, if we can stop it from coming out..." Ed says, looking up at the hill. Fletcher rushes over to a nearby tree, drawing a transmutation symbol on it's trunk. As he preforms the transmutation, the tree begin to glow an earthly green color. The trees begin to suck up the red water, turning red in the process.

"These trees are absorbing all of the water..." Ed stands in awe.

"Brother, there were plants like this in the lab!" Al says. Artie strokes a nearby tree, admiring the beauty of it all.

"You had them absorb the red water to detoxify it?" Ed asks. Russel walks over to Fletcher and put his hand over his brothers, helping to end this once and for all. With both of the brother's powers, the trees turn from red to purple and finally to blue, all before disintegrating into the air.

"Thanks. Sorry for this." Fletcher says to the trees as they disappear into the air. All of the young alchemists marvel at the beautiful, shimmering flakes in the air. As they all smile to one another, the barricade that once held the red water disappears as well.

"Here. These are from Uncle Belsio." Elisa holds up a basket of lemons. Ed and Al eagerly accept them from their seat on the train. "Big brothers, please take care!"

"Come see us again!" Fletcher says. Artie stomps her feet in protest.

"You PROMISED me you'd teach me if I helped out!" Artie began flailing her fists in the air, Russel holding her back.

"Sorry, maybe we'll see each other again sometime." He grins, holding up his pocket watch. He turns to Russel, who is still restraining the young state alchemist.

"Are you sure you'll be alright here?" He asks.

"We'll accept whatever comes our way." Russel replies, smiling sheepishly at Artie who no matter how much she wanted to learn from Ed, decided to stay with the other brothers. Ed makes a teasing expression, which gets overlooked.

"Using my powers, I'm sure I'll be of help to Belsio." He says. Artie becomes limp in his grip from exhaustion, for which he releases her. She begins conversing with the younger siblings.

"Ed, are you still going after the philosopher's stone?" Russel says in a more serious tone. Ed contemplates, but one look at his brother conjures his answer.

"Yeah."

"Listen, I can teach you how to condense a stone." Russel whispers.

"What?" Ed says.

"Not by way of apology, I just think you need to know." Russel says, furrowing his brow.

"We don't need it, we'll find out on our own." Ed shakes his head. "Count on it."

"Ed, come visit us soon! We'll make sure this town is a better place!" Fletcher says happily.

"When you do, you'd better be taller, big brother!" Elisa teases.

"Hey! That wasn't very nice!" Ed says in a playful tone. Artie looks at him in surprise. _'Roy always told me he hated being called short. Maybe he's changed for the better.'_ She smiles to herself.

"Goodbye!" The Elric brothers wave their goodbyes. "Goodbye!" they call back. They drop their hands as the train finally runs out of sight.

"Now, should we go home?" Russel asks.

"Yes!" Elisa and Fletcher cry. Artie watches the group from behind with Russel, smiling.

"Hm? I thought you wanted to learn from the almighty Edward Elric about alchemy." Russel leans over to watch her expression.

"I did. I learned that I should be living my own life, instead of chasing my parents." She looks at the sky, then grins from ear to ear. The group near a river with a bridge to cross over.

"Oh really? That's why? Or was it because you wanted to be with me instead?" Russel teases. She kicks him off of the bridge and into the river. When he looks up, she's smiling rather than angry.

"Let's run, guys!" She pushes Elisa and Fletcher along with her.

"Hey! You can't just leave me here!" Russel yells, sloshing in the water after them.

Fletcher looks over his shoulder and says, "Sorry, brother!"

END OF PLOT REWRITING. I am so glad that's over with. It's pretty hard paraphrasing two whole episodes =_= Anyways, plot pause=romance on!


	8. Chapter 8

~Third Person~

"Hey, if you're going to be hanging out here, you might as well come help us!" Russel calls out Artie from the top of a ladder. She sits at the base of a tree in the shade, reading more alchemy books. Her reading glasses slide down her nose.

"Listen, herbs are my thing, harvesting is yours." She goes back to reading her book. Russel hops down from the ladder to look at what she's reading. She instantly pushes him away.

"Ew, you're all sweaty, get away from me!" She yells, pushing him away from her with one hand and pinching her nose with the other.

"No way, not until you come help us." The pair chase each other around the yard, laughing and giggling. Fletcher and Elisa laugh at them.

"Gotcha." Russel heaves, gripping her in a tight hug. She struggles to escape his grasp, but unfortunately he began to lift her up, making her feet flail in the air. Fletcher and Elisa bust out into a laughing fit when they suddenly cease at the sight of Belsio. Russel tackles her to the ground, still unaware of his presence.

"Can you two go flirt somewhere else?" Belsio sighed at the odd teens, remembering that dating was different since his time. Russel helps Artie up off of the ground, the two still laughing under their breath.

"It's almost dinnertime, right? I should get going then." Artie adjusts her skirt then picks up her books.

"If it isn't any trouble, can you stop by the market on your way home?" Belsio asks, handing her a list of a few things Belsio ran out of quickly since their arrival.

"Of course, I have to get a few additional things as well for what I'm making tonight." She says, looking over the list.

"Let me go with you." Russel says as she's leaving.

"Hmph. You need to stay here and pick fruit." She walks away, waving her hand in the air.

"That's alright, we're almost done here, you can go with her." Belsio says. Artie stops in her tracks and give Belsio one of her deadly stares as Russel grins and walks ahead.

The two walk in awkward silence. Artie is engrossed in her shopping, while Russel's face burns red with the memory of the last time they were alone together. Many of the civilians scowl at Russel as they pass by. A few shopkeepers, however, recognize Artie and give her polite greetings. The two walk up to one of the vendors, who is selling an assortment of fruits from other places of Amestris.

"Mhm, peaches. It isn't quite peach season over here." She takes a sniff of one of the ripe freestone peaches. She purchases half a dozen for her peach pie.

"Listen, that boy with you is nothing but trouble. He deceived this entire town into thinking that he and his brother were the Elric Brothers." The old woman at the stand says, looking up Russel skeptically.

"Oh, he isn't that bad." She says smiling. They two women watch him look at a flower, then he crushes it with his foot.

"See, he's crazy!" she whisper-yelled. Artie looked at him with the same expression as the old woman.

"That I have never seen before." Russel see's her looking at him and gives her a wave.

"You have an odd taste in men." The old woman shrugs, sweeping the area around her shop. Artie's face turned red as she thanked the woman for the peaches and joined up with Russel.

"Was that lady saying mean stuff about me again?" Russel asked, trying to look at her face.

"N-no, not really..." Artie tried desperately to avoid eye contact with him. Suddenly, a huge grin washes over his face.

He leaned in to say, "I bet she said we're a pretty cute couple." She punched him in the face in embarrassment. Seeing this coming, Russel blocked her fist with his hand. Looking both shocked and embarrassed, Artie started to walk to the next shop.

"Hey, wait for me!"

"Hey, mommy, is that the imposter's girlfriend?" A boy asks.

"I am NOT his GIRLFRIEND!" Artie yells at the boy. He begins to cry into his mother's arms, who looks at her scornfully. Artie looks ashamed of herself.

"You're no better than him, yelling at an ignorant little boy." The mother says sharply. Russel puts a ringlet of flowers around the boy's neck and pats his head. The boy looks up to him happily, the two exchanging smiles. The mother just huffs and walks away with her son.

"Where did you learn to do that?" She asks.

"Come here, I'll show you." He leans over a patch of flowers and begins stomping the stems.

"What are you doing?!" Artie asks frantically. He just looks at her casually for a moment then continues stomping. He then kneels down and begins picking and wrapping them in a way so it becomes a beautiful ring of flowers. He carries the finished product carefully and places it on her head.

"The stomping helps the stems wrap around each other without snapping." He smiles.

She looks up at him, blushing, and says, "T-thank you." Russel simply smiles and pats her head, rubbing her forehead with his thumb.

"It's about time you two came home." Belsio was waiting for them at the door.

"We're sorry..." Russel says, both of them looking at different parts of the ground. Belsio sighs.

"Well, hurry up and get inside."

"So, were you two making out somewhere secret or something?" Elisa asks. The two almost choke on their soup.

"N-no way, I was buying the groceries, he was just crushing flowers and stuff!" Artie spouts, crossing her arms.

"What? I did that to make that ring of flowers you love so much! And at least I didn't make some little boy cry!" Russel retorts.

"I-I didn't say I 'loved' it, alright?" Artie says sheepishly, running out of counter-arguments.

"Really..." Russel looks down at his plate, disappointed.

"I need to check on the pie." Artie says, anything to get away from his sad expression. Belsio laughs under his breath at the two. _'They're helpless...'_

And with that ends Chapter 8. As you can tell, they're an awfully tsundere type couple. They, hopefully, won't end up like Ed and Whinry, since they're both somewhat cowards. But honestly, what's hotter than a guy whose obsessed with flowers?


	9. Chapter 9

~Third Person~

After a few weeks, everyone got settled into their daily routine. Belsio, Russel and Fletcher usually went out to the vineyard to pick and later sell fruit. Elisa stopped coming as frequently, per request from her father; but always dropped by to say hello. And Artie mostly spent her time at the library or holed up in the house researching who knows what. She'd started spending countless nights researching criminals and older case, and often talked on the phone with Roy about them.

One day, while everyone did their respective activity, Russel went back home early for a quick shower, because today was to be the day. He walks inside, both nervous and excited. Before he could advance any further, the phone rang. He looks into Artie's room, who was asleep on the floor; to see if she was still working. Smiling to himself, he picks up the phone.

"Is Artemis there?" A voice Russel could only guess to be Roy's says.

"She's asleep." Russel replies sternly. He overheard Artie tell Roy one after calling her in the middle of the night to only call for her personally if something urgent has happened.

"Ah, than can you pass this message to her for me, Mr. ?"

"It's Russel."

"Oh, so you're the guy she's always talking about. Listen, before I go any further, I just wanted to say that if you break her heart, I'll break your everything, okay?" Roy says sweetly. Russel shivers.

"O-okay, so what was the message?"

"Right, right, tell her I need her to come to Central on some urgent Military business tomorrow morning, alright?" Russel stands in disbelief.

"She'll be back though, right?"

"Oh, maybe not for awhile, this case has a bit to do with her vendetta."

"Who are you talking to?" Artie stands in the doorway, rubbing her eyes.

"Is that her? can I tal-" Russel hangs up the phone quickly.

"It's no one." He stutters. She looks at him suspiciously for a moment, then heads into the kitchen. She pours herself a glass of milk then chugs it.

"So, what do you want to do today?" He asks her.

"We're doing something? Now that I think about it, shouldn't you be picking oranges right now?" She replies groggily.

"N-no, Belsio said I should take you out to do something since we've both been working so hard... I-if it's alright with y-you I mean!" He stutters, looking down at the floor. A small smile creeps across her face.

"Alright. So where are we going...?" Artie says. She rests her chin in her hands, thinking deeply into the ceiling. When she has an idea, she clasps her hands together and wakes up instantly.

"Take me to the forest! The one with those purple flowers!" She says leaning into his space, their faces only inches apart.

"S-sure..." He says, backed up against a wall. She grins, picking up her bottle of milk from the counter. Suddenly, a flash of blue light goes off, and the milk is now piping hot.

"What was that?" Russel asks. He gasps as he remembers the last time she did that. She waves her hands frantically.

"N-nevermind that, I'l tell you later. Right now, I have to get ready for our date~" She pats his shoulder before waltzing back into her room, making sure to shut the door behind her. When she's alone, her back slides down the side of the door as she buries her face in her hands.

"Idiot..." She whispers, hitting herself upside the head. With her free hand, she grips a red pendant tightly.

"Are you ready?" Russel knocks on her door, incredibly nervous.

"Yeah, just give me a sec." She replies, making sure her face was dry. She opens the door to reveal her in a more casual dress rather than her usual State Alchemist-type dress. It's a lighter material, a yellow dress with white trim. It's sleeveless, and topped off with a large straw hat. She stands stiffly as he gapes at her raw beauty.

"S-should we go now?" Artie asks nervously.

"Y-yeah, let's go..."

"I wonder what those two are up to." Fletcher sighs, wiping the sweat off of his face with a towel. Belsio chuckles as he climbs down the ladder. _'He's an eccentric adolescent, I don't think you want to know, Fletcher.'_ (A/N This will not be hentai. Don't ruin this sweet romance with porn, weirdos.) Belsio thinks to himself. Fletcher looks at him with ignorance.

"Fletcher, give me a hand with this ladder." Belsio says.

"Oh! Of course."

"Oh man, it's so beautiful!" Artie spreads her arms out to the sky, hopping around to look into each flower. Russel watches her with amusement. He begins walking up to her with a compassionate yet creepy face. Artie backs away from him until her back collides with a tree trunk.

"There's something that's been bothering me." He says, cornering her just as the thugs did when she first arrived to Xenotime. He uses his free hand to lift her chin so he can bore into her eyes.

"How can you use alchemy without a transmutation circle?" Russels says both calmly and aggressively. Artie knew this was coming. She exhales completely before speaking.

"I too committed the taboo." His grey-blue eyes widen. She hangs her head in shame, not even bothering to defend herself.

"Why?" He says softly. She looks away, not willing to open up. He moves his head to maintain eye contact.

"I'll listen." His words catch her off guard. Eventually, she relents.

"It's a long story." She says, finally looking into his eyes. A smile creeps onto his face.

"I don't mind. We have all day." He says.

"After I started living with Roy, I stayed at home while he went to work everyday. Eventually, I because good friends with my neighbor, Daniel, who was my age. He meant a lot to me," Russel's eyes narrow. "A-as a brother, you skeptic. Anyways, I told him about my parents and taught him some alchemy. Eventually, he read something about bringing people back from the dead from one of Roy's files. I didn't want to, it seemed disrespectful not to allow them to rest in peace. But I did anyways."

A little boy poured the last of the ingredients into a large petri dish. He looked over at his young friend, who was cowered into a corner, too scared to approach the circle. He walks over to her and holds her hand, slowly walking her to the dish.

'Listen, we need a little blood, so I'm gonna give you a little prick. It won't hurt, I promise.' He held out his hand. She cautiously put her hand in his. He pokes it with a knife, a few drops of blood landing on the concoction. He smiled at her, making her know it's time. She nods, and stands back. He clasped his hands together, placing them on the rim of the circle drawn on the ground. The alleyway was instantly filled with purple light. For a split moment, it looked so beautiful. The girl marveled at the air around her. The boy smiled at her, then turned back to the circle. Suddenly, the mood was terminated. The boy's body was lifted into the air, his body began to tear away into the thin air. She reached for his outstretched hand when her knees buckled under her. She began coughing up blood, slowly slipping from consciousness. The last thing she saw was Roy cradle her into his arms.

"Since that happened, I haven't had some of my organs, I'm missing a kidney, a lung, and my spleen. But I lived. I was told that Daniel's body was never found, but his clothes laid out on the ground. Ever since then, I've been able to transmute without a circle. Just, don't ask me how I know I honestly have no idea and I-" Artie breaks down, tears pouring out of her eyes. Her hands ball up into fists, which she uses to pound on his chest softly. He stands in shock, unsure of what to do. Finally, he grips her tightly in his arms.

"It's okay." He whispers empathetically. She starts to laugh softly.

"Y-you're crushing me..." She whispers. He immediately apologizes and releases her. They stand there awkwardly for a moment until she dives back into the field of flowers. She begins weaving some of them into a ring of flowers. Russel crawls on his hands and knees beside her and hooks her face to kiss her neck. Artie's fist sails in the air and lands promptly on top of his head.

"Don't even think about trying to take advantage of me! That moment was of pure sympathy." She crosses her arms, her tsundere side showing.

He chuckles and says, "I was promised that this would be a date." Her face flushes bright pink. She finally settles in his lap, finishing the ringlet she was working on.

So I've come across a problem.

In order for this story to work out the way I want, I'll be following the plotline of the manga/Brotherhood series from here on out.

You'll thank me in the future.

Also, Dante is a terrible antagonist.


	10. Chapter 10

~Third Person~

"So what should we do tomorrow?" Artie says while balancing on a fallen tree. Russel looks down. She looks over her shoulder so see that he's stopped. She hops off of the log a slaps his face.

"What was that for?!" He yells, clutching the side of his face. Artie's expression remains neutral.

"You were spacing out again... unless you're hiding something from me." She crosses her arms. He sighs.

"Roy was the one who called." Artie's eyes widen. She runs up to him a grips his shirt.

"What did he say? What happened?" She asks, prying into his eyes.

"He want's you to go home tomorrow." She loosens her grip in relief.

"Sheesh, you really had me worried there. It's probably some State Alchemist business." She says reassuringly. He looks down at her with a smile of relief. A sudden gust of wind sends shivers down Artie's bare arms. Russel takes his jacket and wraps it around her shoulders.

"T-thanks..." She says. He laughs and they begin walking back into town. After a few minutes, the crowd began to pick up, for it was almost dinnertime and everyone was hurrying home. Artie began to find herself lost in the crowd, and moments later Russel was nowhere to be seen. She frantically searches the masses, but couldn't see very far from her height. Someone pushes her from behind, dropping her onto her hands and knees into a puddle. She begins to sob.

"Russel..." She clasps her hands on her head. She hadn't been lost since she first went to the market with Roy.

"This is no good. You're causing a huge traffic jam." An unfamiliar hand stretches out in front of Artie. She looks up to see a boy a little older than Russel. His dark blueish black hair covers his face, which is nestled underneath a blue paper-boy type hat. She takes his hand and stands up, brushing herself off.

"Oh, that won't do. Come back to our shop and dry off. I'm sure my sister has some clothes that'll fit you." He says, eyeing her up.

"Thank you..." She says shyly. Suddenly, a hand pulls her back.

"That won't be necessary." Russel say menacingly, clutching her to his chest. The boy simply snorts and walks away.

"No one in this town will forgive you if you keep looking at them like that." She says walking ahead. Russel quickly catches up to her and holds her hand. When she looks at him, he's looking in another direction, blushing.

"Maybe they won't think I'm that bad if they know I'm with you." He says. He turns his face and leans in close to hers.

"And this way you won't get lost." Their faces get nearer and nearer until...

"Brother! Artie!" Fletcher waves. Belsio smirks and gives Russel a thumbs up. The two back away from each other swiftly, both blushing and looking for something interesting on the ground to stare at.

"I take it you two had fun tonight~" Belsio asks.

"D-don't make it sound so perverted." Artie says, fast-walking back to the house.

"We're going to be selling these all night, so you two help yourselves to dinner at home, alright?" Belsio calls back out to her. Russel excitedly rushes after her. When she looks over her shoulder, she panics and starts running.

"Do you think it'll be okay letting them stay home alone together?" Fletcher asks as they watch the two run off in the distance.

"They need their time alone." Belsio says, remembering the phone call from earlier. Roy was concerned that Russel would try keeping Artie all to himself, so he told Belsio as well, just in case.

"Yes, Papa, I know, I'm going first light of tomorrow. N-no, we didn't do anything like that! NO! I don't need that talk right now! I'll call you tomorrow. BYE!" Artie slams the phone back onto the stand. Evidently, Belsio told him about their little excursion earlier today. Russel smiles from across the room, placing two bowls on the table.

"Let's eat."

"Are you sure they're going to be alright? She's at that age, you know." Riza Hawkeye stands by the Colonel's desk. Roy lets out a small laugh.

"It's fine, she knows very well what'll happen if he does anything to her." He says, pulling on his right glove. The rest of the Mustang unit shuffles into the room.

"All of our things are packed and ready, sir!" Warrant Officer Falman states. With a wave of Roy's hand, the group drops their salutes. He stands up and walks over the face the team.

"We leave for Central tomorrow evening!"

"Why tomorrow evening?" Fuery raises his hand.

"Because he needs time for his little girl to pack up her stuff, too." Havoc says. Roy smirks. Suddenly, the doors burst open once again as Maes Hughs makes an entrance.

"Did someone want to talk about their daughters?!" He says. The rest of the group sighs while Roy and Hughs begin to go off about their little girls.

"There's no helping it when those two are together." Riza says.

"Wow! Look at her, she so big now! an it's been awhile sine I've seen her! How old is she now?" Roy proudly holds out Artie's sixteenth birthday photo.

"She just turned sixteen three months ago." Roy nods, sparkles emanating from who knows where.

"Well, just take a look at my little sweetheart!"

"Achoo!" Artie sneezes.

"Heh, is someone talking bad about you?" Russels asks. She wipes her nose.

"No, but I have a feeling Roy and Maes are together. He must be doting on me again..." She trails off. She'd stayed in Xenotime for around a month, the longest time she's been apart from Roy. They've been able to call each other a lot, but she still missed him.

"You can't wait for tomorrow then, huh?" Russel asks, pushing his food around with a spoon.

"It'll be fine, I'll just be there for awhile, fix whatever needs to be fixed, then come back." She smiles reassuringly. Russel smiles halfheartedly.

"Have you heard from Ed yet?" Artie asks. He promised he'd call and update us on whatever happened when he goes to visit his old teacher the last time he called.

"No. Maybe he did get killed by his teacher...?" Russel thinks aloud.

"Don't say that! I'm sure they're alright!" Artie slams her hand on the table. He snickered softly.

"You seem to worry about others a lot." He says.

"Well, they won't, so someone has to!" She declares. His laughter dies off.

"Then I'll worry about you." He says. She smiles softly.

"Thank you."

"And don't forget to call as soon as you're in East City." Russel yells over the roar of the train.

"I'll be fine, I won't forget." She laughs.

"Just be careful! And don't talk to strangers." Russel says.

"It's almost insulting how much you doubt my power." She replies. Artie turns to Belsio and Fletcher.

"Sorry Elisa couldn't see you off." Belsio says.

"It's fine, I'll be back soon enough." She says. Fletcher hands her a ring of flowers.

"For good measure." He says. Artie smiles and places a kiss on top of his head. She then places it atop her head.

"Thank you, I really like it!" The train bell sounds in the distance, signifying the train's near departure.

"Well, goodbye..." Russel says. She sighs at his hopelessness and leans down and gives him a kiss, this time on the lips. Belsio and Fletcher giggle.

"Next time, I want you to do that to me, okay?" She says. He simply nods back, flustered. Suddenly, the train starts moving. Artie waves at them.

"Goodbye!"

"Bye Bye!"

"See you in a few days!"

"Artie!" Russel calls out. Artie peeks her head out of the window.

"Come back safely, alright?!" She smiles and waves again. The three wave back until the train is out of sight.

Russel's getting it on now. And so is Roy. And Ed. And eventually Fletcher.

But not Al lol.


	11. Chapter 11

~Third Person~

Artie hopped off of the train, scanning the area up and down. She stumbles into a puddle. I appears to have rained earlier this morning. Her eyes settle on a figure in a black cloak with the hood up. She runs over the the figure, hugging presumably him from behind.

"Havoc!" She yells. The man stands up and removes his hood and salutes, revealing his dirty blonde hair.

"I am here to escort you home, Miss Strickland, by request of the Colonel." He says. Artie grins and salutes back. She's always been most fond of Havoc, even having a crush on him as a child. He'd always been uneasy around her since she confessed to him at age thirteen. Roy almost killed him that day. But ever since she meet Russel and word got around, everyone became more at ease.

"Hmph, that lazy Colonel won't even come pick me up himself." Artie crosses her arms. Suddenly, and older woman cries out as a man snatches her purse. Havoc puts Artie behind him and pulls out his gun, but he's too slow. Artie transmutes four walls and capture the burglar. She climbs up onto one of the walls and teases the helpless man.

"I'll be taking this now." She says, reaching down to grab the purse. The man holds it out of her reach.

"You stupid brat, I can see up your skirt from her, ya know!" He says, and almost immediately regrets. With a deadly look on her face, Artie hops into the space and proceeds to beat the living shit out of him. A few minutes later, she lowers the walls in a flash of blue light, revealing a battered and bruised burglar. She simply dusts off her skirt and the purse, walking carefully over the oddly bent arm of the offender.

"Here you are, ma'am." Artie smiles to the old woman. Thankful but slightly intimidated, the woman nods and waddles away. Artie walks back over to Havoc, who pokes her in the forehead, hard.

"With all due respect Miss, I should have handled that ruffian. You need to stay out of these meaningless fights, per request of the Colonel." Havoc says, Artie rubbing her head.

"Colonel this, Colonel that, I can fight as long as it's for the justice and safety of myself and others." She says, hopping into the passenger side of the car. Havoc sighs, slumping into the driver's seat. He's already had more than enough of her rebellious stage.

"So, what does the Colonel want me in East city for? Community service? Another crime scene got wrecked, and he needs me to fix it?" She says, staring out of the window, bored. Havoc looks at her in utter shock and fear. _'That bastard Colonel didn't tell her?!'_ Havoc thinks to himself. Artie loves East City, if she found out they were moving today, she'd lose her mind.

"Uh, h-he'd like to tell you personally, the Colonel..." Havoc says. In all honesty, he's a thousand times more petrified of Artie than Roy.

"It better not be anything weird, like if Roy got engaged to Riza or something... although that's well past due..." She mutters to herself. Artie's incredibly fond of Riza as both a soldier and a friend, and she found it weird thinking of her as her mother. Havoc sighs inwardly at her ignorance. After their minds went astray and the awkward silence ensued, Artie found herself already missing Russel. She stares at the ring of flowers Fletcher gave her the rest of the ride home.

"We're here." Havoc says. Artie's head snaps up. She furrows her brows when she sees Mustang talking to a bunch of men in uniforms. She hops out of the car and yells his name.

"Roy!" He kneels down and extends his arms, which she gladly runs into. He pats her head softly. When they're done, she points to the suspicious men.

"Who are they?" She asks flatly. Roy gives Havoc a deadly glare. Standing up, Roy puts two hands on her shoulders.

"Artie, Team Mustang has been reassigned to Central." Her eyes widen. She clenches her fists.

"Roy you, you JERK!" She yells, pounding on his chest, then runs away crying. Roy anticipated much more mature protests. He sighs and waves to the men, walking with Havoc after Artie.

"You can go home now, Jean." Roy says.

"It was by your orders to bring her home safely." Havoc replies, lighting a new cigarette.

"She's been returned. You go home to get ready for that last date tonight." Roy winks. Havoc sighs.

"This is more important, so I cancelled that. She didn't mind, in fact she praised me for taking care of a child, and eagerly let me off." Havoc rubs the back of his head, blushing.

"Sounds like she might have big boobs, they tend to be the more forgiving kind."

"Massive ones." Havoc corrects. The two men laugh.

"Actually, I promised I'd watch over her until you two were settled in Central so..." Havoc says. Roy looks at him appreciatively. They might be parts of his squadron, but first and foremost, they were friends. Quietly, Havoc motions for them to quiet down, and focuses on a sound behind a door in the alley they were in. He could her faint crying. Putting his finger to his lips, Havoc softly cracks the door open. Roy and Havoc slink through the corridor. Roy leads down the hall, but stops in his tracks as his heart skips a beat.

"Heh, you little pipsqueak! Tell me where you got this and I won't kill you!" A scratchy voice calls. The clink of metal can be heard from inside the next room.

"I-I don't know, I just had it..." Artie's voice whimpers. A loud cackle followed by a painful sounding kick to the stomach echo through the hall. Roy whips on his glove and heads straight inside. Havoc reluctantly follows after him. Roy looks around to see no one in sight. Suddenly, something from behind kicks him to the ground, his glove skidding away. Roy looks up to see a strange looming figure holding a limp Artie over his shoulder.

"Hey Daddy, what's the matter? Cat got your tongue?" The figure transforms halfway into Artie, her soft voice twisted and decrepit. Havoc immediately starts shooting at the figure, a stray bullet landing in Artie's leg. She screams out in pain. The figure drops Artie down beside Roy. Tears stream down her cheeks when she sees him.

"I-I'm sorry..." She hugs his side weakly. The figure kicks Roy again, sending him gliding across the room. The figure then turns to face Havoc when a voice cuts it off.

"Envy, we were told not to make such a ruckus." Another dark figure says, slinking into the darkness. The first figure grunts in displease. Outside, faint police sirens echo in the distance.

"Fine, whatever, let's hurry up and leave." The figure begins walking away. Havoc grits his teeth.

"Oh no you're not." He says. The figure laughs menacingly.

"Then go ahead, come at me." It says, arms outstretched. Havoc runs towards it, fist outstretched, when it dodges and counters with a kick to the neck, blacking out the last of the three.

"Artie... Artie!" She lazily opens her eyes to see Roy covered in blood.

"What happened..-" Her eyes fall onto the bullet wound in her leg. She tries moving her leg, but is stopped by both Roy and the pain.

"Don't worry, you're safe now." He says, hugging her tightly. A medic comes by and carries her into the Ambulance. Roy sits and wallows in his incompetence. Havoc walks up behind him.

"If it makes you feel any better, it was my stray bullet that wounded her." He holds out his hand. Roy smiles a little and accepts it.

"Yeah, so that means it's your hospital bill, right?" He say, walking away.

"Hey! I didn't mean that! Don't you turn your back on me!" Havoc fumes. Riza walks up to Roy with her groceries, while on a walk with Black Hayate.

"What happened?" She asks, hopping over to Roy. Since she was no longer needed until the arrived in Central, Riza wore a more casual outfit, a trenchcoat over a skirt with boots, along with her hair down and pinned back on one side. Roy blushes inwardly, explaining what happened to her.

"Artie is in the hospital?!" Riza yells. She also had a soft spot for that kid, being pretty sane for a teenage girl her age and also by keeping Roy in check at home. Roy looks at the ground, ashamed he couldn't save her. Riza takes note of his reaction, composing herself.

"I apologize for the outburst, sir. You couldn't do anything without your ignition cloth." Roy cringes at his uselessness. He begins to walk down the street, sulking.

"Where are you going, sir?" Riza calls after him, Black Hayate barking at a passing stray.

"I'm going to see her at the hospital." He waves without so much as a backwards glance.

"But sir, the hospital is the-"

"He's getting flowers first." Havoc cuts Riza off, nodding in understanding. Riza watches his figure disappear in the distance.

"Be careful, sir."

WOW Sorry for the late update, I wanted this to be as accurate/plausible as possible. But anyways YAY Roy X Riza stuff and yay annoying protag gets her ass handed to her. Jk, I love Artie 3


	12. Chapter 12

~Third Person~

"Don't worry about me, we need to go to Central as soon as possible." Artie holds Roy's hand, who is seated by her bedside. Roy pushes a bouquet of flowers onto her lap. Artie smiles and strokes the petals of the hot pink Dahlia flowers, the both of them having a deep connection to the name.

"You need to rest. We are not leaving until you're fully healed." Roy urges, using his man-in-charge tone. Artie had shown exponential recovery, but still couldn't manage to walk for awhile.

"Then I'll just stay in a wheelchair." Artie insists. She wanted to welcome their new home together with Roy. Conflicting options in his head, Roy relents.

"Fine. But you have to take your medicine." Roy adds.

"But I don't want to! It tastes like cherries, it's gross!" Artie says, sticking out her tongue. She always seems to mentally degrade in age around Roy. He laughs in amusement.

"Then we'd better leave right now." Roy hopped onto his feet, cradling Artie in his arms.

"Hey, wait, right now?!" Artie lets out a little shriek. Roy lowers her into a wheelchair.

"Of course, I could lose my job if I missed my first day of work in Central." He smiles, hiding the inner rage inside him. He detests missing work. Everyone else had gone straight to Central yesterday while he stayed with Artie in the hospital, who didn't wake until this afternoon. He rushes them out of the hospital.

"Slow down, Roy!" Artie yelped as they almost crashed into a woman and her child. A doctor comes running out of the hospital after them, waving and yelling. Roy flashed him his State Alchemist pocketwatch, then continues to run down the street.

"Where's your car?!" Artie yells, clinging to the wheelchair.

"There's no time, the train leaves in half an hour!" Roy yells back, making a sharp turn towards their apartment.

"I wish you didn't rush our departure." Artie fumed, staring out of the window of the train. Roy puts their bags in the overhead compartment, smirking as he always does.

"You know you can always visit back here whenever you want, although I don't know any friends you'd visit in particular..." Roy trails off carefully. Artie sighs.

"I know what you mean." She grits through her teeth. Honestly, she was looking towards a fresh start. East City was a constant reminder that she was at fault for her friend's fate.

"Anyways, I told Fullmetal to meet up with us in Central." Artie's ears perk up.

"Who cares, he already crushed my dreams once, why should I see them?" She says unforgivably.

"Listen, they had a serious encounter in Dublith and are bringing someone from Rush Valley, along with Whinry, back with them. Ed said he has something really important to tell you." Roy says seriously. Artie looks slightly shocked, but returns her gaze to the window. _'I wonder if that idiot told him'_ Artie thinks to herself, thinking of Russel, who uncovered her 'secret'. More like something Roy told her to never mention to anyone. A blush rises to her cheeks as she reminisces about their date. Roy looks at her suspiciously.

"Is there something you wanted to tell me?" He asks, a look of death in his eyes.

"N-no, nothing!" Artie replies, waving out her hands in front of her. Roy lays back in his seat.

"Hm, which reminds me, how did your date go, anyway? He didn't touch you or take you to some desolate place, did he?" Artie's face once again lights up in embarrassment. Sure, he did take her to some barren place, and he did back her up into a tree, but it was nothing like that.

"N-not really..." Artie almost whispers, a sure sign she's lying. Roy puts on his gloves.

"I'm blowing up his face when I see him." He says flatly. Artie complains, and the two start play-fighting. Other passengers on the train whisper quietly, skeptic of their relationship. _'That man is too young to be her father... but he's also much too old for a young woman like her...'_ an older woman with her grandson thinks to herself, then realizes about how Roy looks like her late husband when he was younger, and sinks into la la land.

Roy and Artie are the last people off of the train. They laugh until they see the Elric brothers, along with Whinry and a few mysterious foreigners.

"Artie!" Al yells. Artie eagerly accepts his hug, then sends a menacing glare in Ed's direction. Roy joins the glare, staring the short Alchemist down.

"What's this about spitting on all of her hopes and dreams and refusing to aide her?" Roy says, looming over Ed.

"It's not my fault! I was just helping her make a huge life decision!" Ed yells on his tiptoes in an attempt to reach Roy's height, which proves to be all for naught. Whinry walks up to Artie shyly.

"H-hi, I'm Whinry." The blonde mechanic holds out her hand. Artie sits in awe. She immediately thinks about how pretty Whinry is.

"My name is Artie! It's a pleasure to finally meet you!" She smiles sweetly, pouncing on the opportunity to make a female friend for once.

"Oh, has Ed told you about me?" Whinry says, slightly hopeful for a positive response.

"Nope, but Roy has told me how you and Ed are, at least what it seems to be..." Artie says teasingly, making Whinry blush.

"O-oh, we're nothing like that! Just childhood friends!" She defends. Artie looks at her unbelieving, along with Al.

"Hey, so how is Russel and everyone? And why are you in a wheelchair?!" Al asks. Ed leaves his staring contest with Roy to join in on the conversation.

"Did something happen in East City?" Ed asks.

"It's sort of a long story, and I appreciate the warm welcome, but can you please tell me who those other people staring at me are?" Artie points at two ninja uneasily.

"Oh, those are Fu and Lan Fan. By the way, shouldn't you two be looking for Ling?" Ed asks. Artie looks completely lost. Lan Fan stares at Artie for a long time. _'C-cute...'_ she thinks to herself, contemplating a short black haircut like Artie's. Artie finally eases herself. She almost bounds out of her seat when she remembers something.

"Wait a second, if everyone's here now, where's Hughs and the rest of the team? They should be here too, right?" Artie asks Roy excitedly, whose spirit is suddenly dampened. She looks at the rest of the group in confusion. Her eye suddenly widen as she reads the mood.

"Brother, you should be going to bed now..." Fletcher says to Russel, who is seated on the floor by the ground next to the phone. Russel turns and puts a finger to his lips.

"Sh! She could call at any second." He says, slightly worried. Fletcher sighs, Russel couldn't sleep when Roy called him about the accident. Fletcher wraps a blanket around his shoulders and sits by his brother on the ground.

"Let's wait together." Fletcher says, making Russel smile.

"Yeah..." He ruffles his little brother's hair.

Brotherly love and female respect time. I honestly love and value each of the characters in FMA, and want to portray them in the most positive light possible. And I'm also pretty sad Hughs wasn't really in this alive plot wise, but I'll give him a few flash backs later on. And lots of Roy-vengeance, since Hughs and Roy are downright the cutest couple ever 3


End file.
